1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to novel 1,3-dibenzylurea compounds and herbicidal compositions containing them as active ingredients and an agronomically acceptable carrier.
2. Description of Prior Art
Some compounds having chemical structures similar to the compounds of the invention have been reported and are well known in the art; e.g., 3-(.alpha.,.alpha.-dimethylbenzyl)-1-(4-methylphenyl) urea (Control compound a in the examples presented subsequently), 1,3-bis(.alpha.,.alpha.-dimethylbenzyl) urea (Control compound b in the examples presented subsequently) and 3-(2,4-dichloro-.alpha.,.alpha.-dimethylbenzyl)-1-(.alpha.,.alpha.-dimethy lbenzyl) urea (Control compound c in the examples presented subsequently). The control compounds a, b and c are described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 35454/1973, ibid. No. 41664/1978 and Japanese Patent Public Disclosure No. 83432/1977, respectively. According to our experiments, as some of the results are shown in the examples presented subsequently, the control compound a moderately harms paddy rice and shows slight herbicidal activities against perennial cyperaceous weeds such as water nutgrass and water chestnut, while the control compounds b and c do not harm paddy rice but control undesirable weeds only to minor extents.